Lassen College Basketball Takes Two from Visiting Butte
It was a good night for the Lassen College men’s and women’s basketball teams, Wednesday (1/21) at the Lassen College Sports Complex. Each Team clawed out hard earned victories over the Butte College Roadrunners.
The first game of the evening saw the Lady Cougars squander a double-digit second half lead only to pull away down the stretch for a 77-62 win. Lassen held an eleven point lead at the end of the first half but Butte rallied to take it’s first lead of the night, 42-41 with 14 minutes to play. The two teams then exchanged the lead several times before Lassen caught fire from the field down the stretch for the 15 point win. “We tried to give the game away in the first five or six minutes of the second half.” Said Lassen head coach Mark Naraeu. “Fortunately, we were able to collect ourselves and finish strong.”
Despite sitting for several minutes of the second half after picking up her fourth personal foul, Jessica Nolan paced a balanced Lassen attack with 16 points. Brittany Hill added 13 points and Dani Case had 12 points. Point guard, Lorena Torres finished with 11 points and Savannah Carlo scored ten points. The win improves Lassen’s overall record to 13-9 and 3-0 in the Golden Valley Conference.
Butte was led by Jacque Alber’s 23 points.
The night’s second contest was a dog fight that would go down to the games final seconds, and when the clock ran out, Lassen had earned it’s first conference win of the season, defeating Butte, 68-65.
Lassen trailed the Roadrunners, 33-23 with under three minutes to play in the first half, but the Cougars scored nine straight points to head into the locker-room down by just one point. “That was big.” Said Lassen head coach Ben Riley. In the second half, the lead changed hands nine times before time ran out with the Cougars on top. The score was tied 59-59 with 2:42 to play. Darius Stewart then scored the next eight Lassen points. Chris Carlson hit one of two free throws with .08 seconds left to give the Cougars their final margin of victory.
Stewart finished with a game high 34 points. Carlson had 11 points and sophomore, Jemier Dodd tallied 15 points. Asked following the game, how big the win was for his team, Riley answered, “It’s huge, huge. It could have been the difference between competing for a league championship or going in the tank.”
The win gives Lassen a 1-2 record in the GVC, and if the first three conference games are any indication, the race could go down to the final game of the season, with every team being in contention.
Pleasant Valley High School graduate, Devon Hills led Butte with 16 points.
Both the Cougars and Lady Cougars will be at home, Saturday, Jan. 24th to face College of the Redwoods. The Lassen ladies will tip off at 2:00 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 4:00 p.m.
Note: Fans entering the games were given flyer’s on the proper decorum for watching and cheering at “district athletic events.” This stems from some unruly behaviour at last Wednesday’s (1/14) game with Feather River College. My take, it was too quiet…
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Posted: January 21st, 2009 under LCC Men's Basketball, LCC Women's Basketball.
